


Seven Years After

by araraya



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: 7 years later, Akira works for Kirijo Group, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, M/M, Mentions of Kirijo Mitsuru, Mentions of Munehisa Iwai, Mentions of Oda Shinya, Mentions of Souji Seta, Mentions of other Phantom Thieves member, also Yusuke disappeared from last year, and hasn't been back for 7 years, it's not a songfic I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 22:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13867236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araraya/pseuds/araraya
Summary: It has been seven years since Akira last met his friends in Tokyo; Six years since he got rejected by universities in Tokyo; Five years since the Phantom Thieves chatroom stopped being overwhelmingly active; Four years since he met Souji Seta and Kirijo Mitsuru, who then led him to work in Kirijo Group; Three years since he graduated from university and worked full time for Kirijo Group; Two years since Yusuke first appeared on TV, talking about his exhibition that was well received in Paris; And one year since he talked to his dearest artist friend.





	Seven Years After

Seven years.

It has been seven years since Akira last met his friends in Tokyo; Six years since he got rejected by universities in Tokyo; Five years since the Phantom Thieves chatroom stopped being overwhelmingly active; Four years since he met Souji Seta and Kirijo Mitsuru, who then led him to work in Kirijo Group; Three years since he graduated from university and worked full time for Kirijo Group; Two years since Yusuke first appeared on TV, talking about his exhibition that was well received in Paris; And one year since he talked to his dearest artist friend.

Up until two years ago, Yusuke would still appear in the Phantom Thieves chatroom and reply to his private chats. A year ago, though, he just disappeared. Even Futaba failed in her attempt to track the artist.

“I think he changed his phone and number,” she said. His lack of liking towards the social medias didn’t help either.

Since then, nobody had ever heard anything directly from him. They know he’s probably doing well, since his latest works would be displayed and most likely talked about by art critics. They had tried going to his exhibition to see if they could run into him there and failed.

They eventually gave up and accept the fact that Yusuke is now a successful man with busy schedule and let go. But not Akira.

Akira now works for Kirijo Group that researches Personas and Shadows. The group’s biggest laboratory is in Fukuoka, which locates in Kyushu, which makes his distance to his friends even farther.

Fukuoka is nice, and the people in Kirijo Group is even nicer. Most of the researchers are ex-persona users, but it still doesn’t make the research easier. However, it does make communication easier.

And since communication is easy and tends to be casual, it was easy for him to ask for a long paid holiday to the head of the research, Seta. Seta granted the holiday to him without any second thought.

“You’ve worked hard these past years without taking any paid day off, so please enjoy this holiday,” he said with a gentle smile.

Akira is grateful to him, and he made a note to himself to bring the man nice souvenirs from Tokyo. He takes out his phone and notices that he still has four hours until he would arrive in Tokyo. Grunting, Akira strokes Morgana’s sleeping form beside him and pulls down his sleep mask.

**…**

Tokyo has changed. It’s not much, but it has changed. Some stores he doesn’t remember are in the places he remembers not existing, and some stores he remembers are no longer. It’s not much, but it does it job of reminding him how long it has been since he’s last here.

The hotel he’s staying in allows pets, so the Morgana has been walking beside him with pride as other visitors and staffs alike praise him at how clever he is for following and listening to Akira’s instructions every now and then. They even provide Morgana his own pet bed, not that he’s going to use it, and litter box in the bathroom.

On his first day in Tokyo, Akira visits LeBlanc. He no longer hides Morgana inside his bag when he’s travelling by train now that he has enough money. People would come to him and ask if they can pet Morgana, and leave him with a big smile after they do. When they get off the train and Morgana walks close by him with the same pride as people would turn to look at them, some would even take out their phone and either video or photograph the two.

Unlike the rest of Tokyo, Yogenjaya doesn’t change, even the old man in the secondhand shop is still tending the shop. LeBlanc, like Yoncha, doesn’t change. Sojiro, who smiles at him from behind the counter, now has more grey hair, but other than that he’s the same old Sojiro. Akira returns his smile and turns to see that all of his friends—except Yusuke—are there.

They tackle him into a group hug and excitedly drag him into their usual booth. Futaba scoops Morgana up into her chest and hugs him tight, earning some fond protests from him.

Akira is glad that even though some of their appearances changed drastically, namely Ryuji who now has his black hair back and Makoto who now has longer hair, they stay as he remembers them to be. Ann now prefers to let her hair down and wears clothes that has softer colour than she used to wear back in high school, Haru is the only one who basically stays the same, both in personality and appearance, and Futaba chooses to style her long hair into a high ponytail, but her quirky personality doesn’t change at all.

Sojiro joins their conversation from behind the counter and they talk about a lot of things. They talk about jobs and universities, talk about crushes and partners, about friends and enemies. They talk about life and its endearing journey.

Then, they talk about Yusuke. Yusuke, their dearest famous artist friend who holds exhibitions around the world. It’s funny how they remember about how broke Yusuke was back in high school. Yusuke, the friend who suddenly disappeared after a year. However, since he’s disappeared into a better life, they accept it and they’re happy for him. Not for Akira, though.

Yusuke, Akira’s biggest crush since he was in high school. Yusuke, the only person who doesn’t know about his crush on him. Yusuke, his sole reason to take this trip to Tokyo.

Akira misses him so much his heart aches at the thought of him.

When the night has gotten dark, they part ways. They know that it’ll be a long time before they’ll meet again, now that they’re adults who have their own life to be busy with, but no one part with a, “Good bye,” and instead, like the old days, they part with a, “See you tomorrow!” and it hurts but reassuring at the same time.

On Akira’s second day in Tokyo, he went to the airsoft shop to see Iwai. Iwai grins at the sight of him and teases him, asking if there is anything weird he’d like him to buy. Akira laughs and shakes his head. They talk and catches up with each other’s life, then part after a few hours.

Akira heads to Akihabara after that. He had told Shinya that he’s in Tokyo and the boy, who is now in high school, excitedly asked him to meet where they used to meet before.

The first thing Akira does when he sees Shinya is chuckle at the sight of him. Shinya, apparently, copies a lot of his style from back then. His hair isn’t messy and fluffy like his, but he wears a similar blazer and t-shirt underneath, though his jeans are skinnier than his. The Shinya in front of him _does_ look like he can pass as his little brother. The younger boy grins cheekily at him and challenge him to a duel in the arcade machine.

Akira’s skill is rusty, now that he no longer has to fight Shadows, or just go to an arcade in general, but going against Shinya is still as fun and as humiliating as he remembers. Shinya then drags him to the diner and they talk until the sun has set.

On his third day in Tokyo, he spots Yusuke in the walkway in Shibuya Station.

Akira freezes. Yusuke now has long hair that he ties in a low ponytail, much like Sayuri. He has gain a little weight, just enough to make him look healthier. He wears a tan blazer and black jeans, a nostalgic sight to Akira. He stares at Akira in wide eyes, and they stare into each other’s eyes before they close their distance into a tight hug, ignoring whispers of people around them.

Neither of them speaks, they walk side by side to a restaurant in silence, not even greeting each other after their hug in the station. When they’re seated in the restaurant, Yusuke’s eyes are down casted, looking extremely guilty.

“Akira, I’m very sorry,” he started, “I broke my phone when I was abroad, and I don’t remember any of our friends’ number. It is not in my intention to seem busy to the point of not having any time for my friends, I would never-”

“Yusuke,” Akira smiles, “Calm down. None of us is blaming you. We’re happy for you.”

Yusuke’s gaze relaxes at his word, looking like a heavy weight has just been lift off his shoulder.

“Though,” he blushes and inhales deeply, “I do miss you a lot. I miss you so much, Yusuke. When you first disappeared, I was frustrated. I was happy that you’re doing well on your job, but I… I was disappointed.”

Yusuke stares at him, now looking even more guilty than he did, “Akira, I-”

“I love you, Yusuke. I love you a lot,” Akira finally said. The words glide easily on his tongue, like the most natural thing to say.

“Akira?”

“I’ve always liked you since back in high school. I didn’t even know that it’s possible to like someone this much,” Akira continued, “When you were gone, I couldn’t help but think of why I haven’t said these words to you. I was very disappointed in myself.”

Yusuke is stunned, he listens to Akira silently, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Akira stares back at him, then at the table, chewing his bottom lip, “I… I just want to let it out. You don’t have to respond to my confession. I’m fine with just loving you by myself. I mean, I have done that for seven—almost eight years. I just want you to kn-”

Yusuke’s hand is soft on his cheek. He doesn’t even remember shedding tears, yet he can feel his cheek wet as Yusuke’s hand wipes them away.

Yusuke’s eyes are soft and gentle as they stare into each other, “Come with me to my studio, there is something I want you to see.”

So he does.

Yusuke guides him by hand, holding his gently, ignoring the looks they get from people around them. Apparently, Yusuke now lives in a shared house with his fellow artists.  The house has two stories and every single wall in the house is painted with what Akira guesses is the residents’ artworks. It’s a fitting house for Yusuke.

Unlike his description of his social life in Kosei, Yusuke seems to be well liked by others, who greet Yusuke and Akira with tired but content eyes and pats Yusuke’s shoulder as he passes by them. He lives with three others, two guys and one girl. The girl must be a sculptor, since her hands are white with some kind of dust and she was asking Yusuke if he had seen her sand paper when she met the two.

Yusuke guides him into the studio, which has one of the residents inside already. The man greets the two with a grin and leaves almost immediately. _Did he just wink to Yusuke?_

Yusuke lets go of Akira’s hand, much to Akira’s disappointment, and walks over to the stack of finished painting in the corner of the room. He browses through it and pulls out one of them.

Yusuke smiles at Akira and walks over to him.

“I… it has been too long for me since I last see you,” Yusuke looks down to the painting that is still concealed from Akira, “To be honest, I was afraid that I might forget your face,”

“It’s silly, but I would look at the few photos we had taken back then and think, “No, he didn’t look like this,” so I tried to draw you the way I remember you to be.”   

Yusuke flips the canvas so Akira would be able to see the painting, revealing an abstract painting with splatters of colours in some kind of shape that looks like the outer line of Akira’s bust. The colours are bold and vibrant, but somehow it gives off a calming vibe.

“This is me?” Akira asks, stepping closer towards the painting, “May I touch it?”

“Of course. This _is_ you, after all.”

Akira’s fingers move slowly, feeling every strokes and splatters. He chews his lower lip to distract himself from his aching heart. He raises his head to face Yusuke, who seems to has been staring at him the entire time.

Akira blushes and looks back down. Yusuke, on the other hand, takes one of his hand and brings it to his chest, earning a jerk from Akira.

“My heart is beating very fast too, you see,” Yusuke says, “You’re the first and only person to have ever made me like this,”

“All these years I have never lived a day where I don’t feel like wanting to go to your place and see you. But I didn’t have the money,” Yusuke scoffs, “When I do have the money, I got too busy, and thus, it’s still impossible to see you,”

“Yesterday, one of my peers, the girl you saw earlier, showed me a ‘viral’ video of a clever cat that follows its master in the Shibuya station, and I immediately knew it was Morgana and you. That’s why I was in the station, waiting for you.”

“You,” Akira breathes the air he doesn’t know he’s holding. He shakes his head and smirks at him, “You’re too tall.”

Yusuke chuckles and shakes his head, “Forgive me, it’s beyond my power to control,” he caresses Akira’s cheek, “But I can do something about it.”

And he leans down to kiss him. It was nothing wild nor erotic, just an innocent kiss between the two. The kiss the two have been waiting for all these years.

When they part, they immediately decided that it was not enough and lean for more. It’s gentle and hesitant at first, but it’s quick to turn messy as they stumbled across the room to get to the sofa by the window. It was a good thing Yusuke puts away the painting after the first kiss.

Yusuke, being pushed down by Akira, is now sitting on the sofa while Akira straddles him between his legs. They part for air, panting and looking fondly into each other’s eyes.

“Come with me,” Akira says, “Come with me to Fukuoka. I’m working with a team of researcher that researches Personas and Shadows. I can’t abandon the project, but I don’t want to be apart from you. Not anymore.”

Yusuke smiles and pecks Akira on the lips, nodding, “Not anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know I've said this before but I just.adore.these two.  
> My soft artist boi has long hair in the future bc I'm a sucker for boys with long hair.
> 
> I don't regularly post anything P5, or any fandom for that matter, but if you'd like to talk or squeal or fangirl/fanboy or just talk to me in general then you're free to say hi to me on instagram [@aayea_](https://www.instagram.com/aayea_/), you don't have to follow me or anything, just come say hi!


End file.
